Elephantine dilemma

Kabir said long ago

• laghuta se prabhuta milay parbhuta se prabhu door
• cheenti shakkar le chali haathi ke sir dhool

-- humility can make you reach God. --arrogance takes you nowhere, Ants can carry a grain of Sugar, an elephant is left with Mud on his Head.

The elephants assembled for their annual conclave. Their forehead creased with anxiety, the tuskers extremely agitated, some of them on the verge of breaking into 'Mast’. The cows in the herd safely huddled into one corner of the open ground, where a little pond had now turned into drying slippery slush.

Unmindful of the tense atmosphere in the herd, the baby elephants were prancing around their mothers limbs, some as though skating around in the mud, their trunks firmly holding onto their mother's legs. The mothers themselves vary of the mood of the

bulls in the pack were trying to push the youngsters into a less visible corner of the mud pit.

The bulls trumpeted out loud, calling the group to order. The herd has been off late bothered by the dwindling foliage in their part of the jungle. What was left was only good enough for the goats and the giraffes. The lactating mothers were starving, the babies not yet old enough to eat grass; of which there was not enough anyway, and not much fodder around for the mothers to feed on.

“Friends let me introduce you to Mr.Jackal, who is a consultant of repute and he has helped many a community in trouble. So let's hear out Mr.Jackal who has some good news for us”, announced the lead bull. “He has just been around the world on his vacation and he reports having seen a lush green valley not far from here. Two score miles away is a mountain called IPO. On the other side of the mountain is a valley called ‘Valuation’. The ‘Valuation’ is so lush that anyone who crosses the IPO is never found short of fodder. Elephants from far and wide come there to taste the juicy growths in ‘Valuation’. Herds come there and live happily ever after. So friends since we are anyways starving to death, there is no harm in making a last ditch attempt at crossing the IPO. Once we arrive at ‘Valuation’ we shall for forever be blessed with the dividends of nature.

“Mr.Jackal stood at a safe distance, eagerly eying the hungry herd of elephants and grinned to himself. “Let the herd cross the IPO and see the barren desert stretching out in front of them, surely devoid of energy from the difficult crossing, the elephants will never have the strength to make it back across the mountain. They shall starve to death in the vast emptiness of the ‘Valuation’, for the wise know that it is one valley which in some parts starts from the mountains and ends on the cliffs and therein shall start the feast of a thousand jackals. Soon my pack will reward me many folds over, for my feat of delivering a herd of elephants to them, and they shall not remain hungry for sometime yet. hehehehehehe” he grinned showing off his gleaming set of teeth. A perfect set which only a consultant could have.

But there was a saner voice in the herd yet. Sumu, the wise one feebly raised his voice, hundred year and still going strong, he was not respected much by males in the herd anymore, yet he would never shy of giving advice which no one listened to anyway.

“Friends since when have we, the majestic elephants started consulting the sly jackal ! Can’t you see the greedy look in the eyes of the devious one. Don’t you see his fur shines, for it has been washed with the blood of innocents. Kills he would have devoured during the nights devoid of the moon. Is the herd in a condition to make this journey, based on hearsay of a friend who we do not know”? questioned the wise one. But not in many colonies are the wise and aged, given heed to. The feeble voice of Sumu was drowned in the murmurs of dissent from the young pack. Sumu noticed the way his warning got drowned in haste. He quickly backtracked into submission, and began absentmindedly munching on a green twig,reminding him of happier days

“Ok folks, we leave in ten minutes, Mr.Jackal will lead us to our new home beyond the IPO”. Said the lead bull.

In all this commotion no noticed the ant, who had gone hunting for honey on top of the tree. Perched precariously on his hind legs he had been listening to the dialogues. An elephantine posterior brushing against the tree made it tremble, Mr.Ant lost his foothold.

BANG ! he landed right below in the midst of the herd. All the elephants had assembled in a tight circle. Their heads facing each other eye-ball to eye-ball. When Mr.Ant dropped right in front of them, they suspiciously stared at him.

“Hey majestic friends”, said Mr.Ant, “don’t go for the IPO just yet. It’s been many moons since it has rained. 'Valuation’ beyond the IPO are not yet green, my cousins the ‘flesh eating ants’ live there. They lay waste the most majestic of beings. Wait for few seasons more, once the time is ripe, when the rain gods have blessed the brown dry land, and greenery takes over 'Valuation’ when my cousins start drowning in the water from the rains, and start migrating to safer places, that is the time for you to go for the IPO, that’s when you shall ‘be richly rewarded for the long journey. Wait here for some more time.

In the meanwhile I know some of you are very hungry. We ants too have our granary, perhaps we can share our bounty with you elephant's so that the weaker among you may not die. But don’t migrate just yet. For you shall become easy meat for my cousins. I hear that no less merciful are the Jackals; who claim to be friends but are faithful to none. You can trust me more than than you can ever trust your own kin. If not me at least pay heed to your own elderly Sumu, who speaks nothing but the truth.He has seen many seasons of turmoil, and know much more than you could ever believe. In case you all feel very hungry come with me, for my granary is not very far away in the tree out there”. concluded Mr.Ant.

Upon hearing these words the young bulls in the herd burst out in laughter. Their laughter would not stop, and the noise they made traveled far and wide. They ridiculed the Ant like no one ever did. The lead bull was rolling in the mud, unable to hold himself, gathering himself with great difficulty he blurted out…. Stupid ant, what did you say ? Eat from your granary ? how many meals can you serve a full grown elephant ? you will have to travel around the world a million times before you can accumulate enough for even the smallest among us. You say you shall feed us. How do you propose to do that.

“Pray !  did you not see our size, our majestic dimensions, our strength, don't you see we lord over the jungle, a swish of our breath will blow you away miles from here. My mates can feed a million ants with left overs of one meal. How dare you offer us help or advice. And pray why should we beasts of such large proportion listen to someone as tiny as you ? How big is your brain that you dare offer us elephants 'advice'. Run away before we get irritated and stomp you along with your stupid tree, into the earth below”, said the lead bull.

Hearing these words Mr.Ant, sadly shrugged his shoulders and walked away casting a sorry look at the lead bull. Never mind Mr.Elephant if ever you need my help do let me know. Saying so Mr.Ant disappeared into the woods.

Well! the story goes that Mr.Ant was proven right , the herd crossed the IPO, but could not find anything of interest in ‘Valuation’. The ant hills they found on the other side were huge and ominous. Soon a pack of hungry jackals arrived on the scene and started growling at the babies in the herd. The young bulls were immature but not stupid, they quickly remembered Mr.Ants warning, and beat a hasty retreat forgetting 'Valuation’. Thankfully they got some nourishment from small agricultural fields on the way and soon returned to their land in almost a similar state they had started off in.

Hunger knows no mercy, and soon the war council was called again, this time they said let's apologise to Mr.Ant perhaps he may have some survival tactics for us after all, so in all earnestness the elephants trooped to where Mr.Ant lived, and gently knocked at his door, lest they knock the flimsy door down with their huge trunks.

Mr.Ant was pleased no end. Happy with the apology, he was only too eager to help. He took out all his records from his store to look for bounties. After rummaging through multiple volumes he finally lifted his head up as if struck with a vision.

“Hey elephants go north, ten miles from here you shall come to a river called “Venture Capitalas”. Cross that river and you shall come to a honey field, millions of bee hives await you there with loads full of honey. There your herd shall feed and grow strong, healed and well nurtured your herd shall soon multiply and find the wherewithal to look for new horizons to sustain you all. Said Mr.Ant with a wise look.

Wiser from the earlier foray the elephants were only too eager to please the Ant. So they profusely thanked Mr.Ant and set out in search of Venture Capitalas.

Few days into their journey they came upon the river and joyously played in the calm waters of Venture Capitalas. Bathed and refreshed they set out in search of the promised honey, and true to the directions given, soon arrived at a rock formation full of bee hives dripping with honey. The elephants could not hold themselves back any longer and threw themselves at the honeycombs. The first few drops of honey that came their way was tasty indeed, which only added fire to their rampage. However their pleasure was to be short lived. In their pleasure they did not hear the buzz of a huge swarm of bees who set out to defend their ground. Soon the sting operation began, the bees knew just where to sting so that it hurt the elephants the most, in spite of their thick skin. The taste of honey now seemed to pale in the light of bee stings, and soon the elephants were running for safety.

Once again they returned dejected. Clueless they were, about what to do next. That's when they noticed Sumu, standing all alone. He had not ventured into either of their trips, he just could not muster the strength to venture into such long adventures. He was quite happy to have stayed back to await whatever fate had in store for him.

The herd had conferred on the way back. Someone remembered that as per elephant lore,  a similar situation had also arisen around fifty years back. Sumu would then have been a young bull and would be privy of how the herd battled the odds. So they all set out to seek guidance from Sumu.

Noticing the herd approach him, Sumu grew apprehensive. He was no more game for all the taunts and jabs from the younger pack. But he was in a way happy to see his herd back, so reluctantly embraced the tribe as they approached.

“Hey Sumu, the wise one, advice us. As you are aware the first time around we did not give weight to the smaller voice of Mr.Ant. we ridiculed him only to be proven wrong so we were ashamed and apologized to him

“The second time around we corrected ourself and went to him for advice, earnestly believed in what he said, and we got stung black and blue.”

“So hey Sumu the wise one. Tell us should we have not gone for the IPO ? And if a younger smaller partner could have advised us correctly in the first instance why did his advice fail us the second time around”.

“So hey Sumu the wise one lead us to light; for in our youth we have not seen adversity the likes of which you have seen in your long innings.”

Suddenly Sumu found energy to address his clan. His depression flew away and some strange energy seems to light up his aura. Then Sumu spoke.

“Friends, elephantine folks, and countrymen” , he started addressing them all with a bite in his voice. Never belittle what the smaller ones tell us, we stand ten feet tall, so the ground is lost on us, the smaller ones have the ear to the ground, so always listen to them before coming to a decision.

“If that is so why did Mr.Ant’s advice fail us the second time around”? Asked a young bull.

“Who said that Mr.Ant was wrong the second time around” ? Asked Sumu. “Did you not notice that even during the times of drought he could guide you towards Venture Capitalas. Going by his direction you also got to the honey fields. Then why do you say that Mr.Ant failed you.

“Because we were chased out by the bees, he never told us that the bees would sting”. Replied the bull.

Hahaha…...Sumu laughed out. Hearing him laugh at them, one of the younger immature bulls charged at Sumu. But for the timely intervention of a more saner bull, Sumu would have been impaled on the younger one’s strong tusks.

You old elephant how dare you mock at us like this ?

Should I not ! You imbecile joker ? Are you not the one with the most number of bee stings ! Beware of your own foolishness, lest you end up doing something you regret your entire life. Said Sumu.

The crestfallen bull backtracked and sulked into a corner as Sumu continued.

So brothers of my majestic herd, if I understand you correctly, you expect the one on the ground to provide answers to your problems, you also want him to teach you the path to success, and finally you also need him to teach you execution. Is that not a lot to expect from one so little. Should you not be thanking him for all the learning he has been giving you, he is so small that he could get trampled by the slightest swing of your large tail, did you not envy his confidence when he offered to feed you all from his granary.did you not feel ashamed to go to him the second time around after insulting him earlier. Don't you feel sorry for your own ability to ideate and use your mammoth faculties to better use. And the sorriest part of the story is as to how you have forgotten your lessons from your childhood. Did anyone of you notice Little Ramu in this journey, just turnaround and look at him gurgling with joy. So saying Sumu shifted a little, to reveal a cute little three month old calf,

Little Ramu as his name suggested was all of two feet in height, was swathed in a thick coating of slush from the river bank, but his tiny little trunk was glittering golden yellow in colour with a thick coating of honey. The little calf was dancing around in joy, drunk to his full on honey, it was a meal he could never forget in life.

“The thick mud pack on his body, from his frolic in the river bank protected him from the bees, and he managed to have his fill while the entire herd was panicking and rushing home.Mud protects you mammoths like nothing else does. How could you all forget your basic instincts. Of what use is the IPO and the Venture Capitalas if you folks don't know how to proceed thereon !”

Little Ramu nodded his head in ecstasy, as though he understood what Sumu was saying.

The dejected herd walked away with a new realisation. Sumu beamed at the little one and retired to a corner basking in his newfound stature in the herd.

To dismiss weaker beings as of no consequence is the biggest mistake one could make in team play, but to heed to them yet not sift through their sound bites is a more serious flaw.

Ask the weakest link, they keep the chain together in spite of all of their weaknesses and it's not an easy job. The day they give in the continuity is gone. Some play for success, and some are content in continuity.

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